JHood did a "roar" this morning at 7:35 in which he made a sweeping generalization that when teams lose or fail to win championships it is usually the players' fault, not the fault of the managers or coaches. He mocked Chicago fans with his "Chicago guy" voice and suggested we fans criticize coaches too much. He suggested that when our teams lose, we should not blame the managers or coaches, we should blame the players. In most cases, I think J Hood is wrong.

In a perfect world with equal leadership on all teams, the most talented teams should always win. But all teams do not have equal leadership. Teams without the best talent often win championships because the managers/coaches get their players to play above their talent levels. And when players perform below their talent level, there can be a multitude of coaching-related reasons besides the obvious one of the players not giving full effort. Winning is clearly a shared responsibility. No amount of great managing can turn a horribly talent-deficient team into a champion. However, for the vast majority of teams with average talent, it's the leadership that makes the difference in taking that average talent to championships. So when average teams don't play above their talent, it goes straight to the quality of their leadership.

Human performance is a complicated issue. I don't blame the players who give full effort for their failure to be the best any more than I blame my kids who give maximum effort, but still don't get straight As in school.

And didn't he actually claim during this "roar" that Kerry Wood and/or Mark Prior were "Hall of Famers"? I was in the shower, so I did not hear it clearly, but that is what I thought I heard. At least this "roar" was about a "real" sport as his "roar" yesterday was actually on "pro wrestling". What an f'ing joke AM1000 has become....

I didn't hear Hood, but I certainly don't agree with your point C2C. A good coach maximizes and takes advantage of his players abilities, but teams with "average talent" still rarely win championships. The Bulls are a perfect example. IMO, the are a well coached, above average team. However, anyone watching them can see they lack a player capable of taking them to a championship. Would you have blamed Skile's "leadership" if they had lost to the Pistons last night when Gordon & Hinrich both missed free throws down the stretch?